Men of War #2 Review

Sgt. Rock gets his first taste of superhuman warfare.

With several of DC's new non-superhero books, the impetus seems to be to take a familiar genre - western, war, fantasy - and see what happens when the characters bump up against the fantastical superheroes of the DC Universe. This is an approach that is serving Men of War well so far. Ivan Brandon is finding success in his portrayal of a younger, modern take on Sgt. Rock. The character faces the same long odds and desperate situations as his predecessor, but the entire conflict is tinged with the knowledge that Rock and his men are mere pawns in a larger game they barely understand.

Issue #2 draws the reader's attention even more than issue #1 in some ways, as it features Rock's first meeting with a superhuman component. Brandon writes this exchange very well, presenting a far different take on a familiar villain. Scenes like this, as well as various smaller touches in the dialogue and plotting, help distinguish this book among other military-themed comics. The art is also frequently gorgeous, particularly during Rock's aerial adventure, though certain panels suffer from a loss of detail. It's the strong coloring that keeps the art humming along even in the lesser sequences.

Unfortunately, the backup feature continues to hold the series back somewhat. Jonathan Vankin's segment isn't terrible, but it is extremely generic where Ivan Brandon's main story finds its own voice. There isn't a strong enough connection between the reader and the characters, and this no tension as they run up against one threat after another. Both segments also suffer from an endless slew of editorial captions that attempt to explain various acronyms and military terms. Personally, my intelligence was vaguely insulted when the book felt the need to explain to me what KIA stands for. Even if some of these explanatory tidbits are useful, they would be better off relegated to a separate appendix section.

Men of War would probably benefit from dropping the backup story and, with it, the cover price. Regardless, Brandon's story is one that deserves to be read even amid the numerous other New 52 releases.